Constantine V (Valiadis) of Constantinople

His All-Holiness Constantine V (Valiadis) of Constantinople was Patriarch of Constantinople during the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century from 1897 to 1901. He was deposed by the Ottoman Turk government.

Life

Constantine Valiadis was born in November 1833 in the village of Vessa on the island of Chios in the eastern Aegean Sea. His father was a priest and teacher from whom he began his education. After completing his basic education, Constantine entered the Theological School of Halki, from which he graduated in 1857 with honors. He continued his education at the University of Athens. When his uncle became patriarch as Sophronius III in 1863, Constantine followed him to Constantinople as a secretary. He was ordained a deacon in 1864. After his uncle resigned as patriarch in 1866, Constantine followed him, but continued his education with post graduate studies at Strasbourg, Switzerland, and Heidelberg.

In 1872, he became secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople. In 1874, he was ordained a priest. In 1876, Father Constantine was elected a bishop and consecrated Bishop of Mytilene on Lesbos Island. In 1893, he was transferred to the position of Bishop of the Diocese of Ephesus. During the years he was a bishop, Bp. Constantine's name was numbered as a nominee on the three person candidate list (triprosopo) in the Patriarchal elections of 1884, 1887, and 1891. On April 2, 1897, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch after the resignation of Patriarch Anthimus VII.

Patr. Constantine was particularly interested in preaching and Byzantine church music. It was during his patriarchate that an interruption developed with the Church of Antioch. He also made approaches to the Anglican Church. A discord arose between Patr. Constantine and a group of bishop that resulted in a call by the bishops for his resignation during Holy Week in 1901. A representative of the Sublime Porte attempted to reconcile the "factions," but was unsuccessful. This led to an imperial decree, signed on Good Friday of 1901, that deposed Patr. Constantine and the election of his successor on the same day.

Patr. Constantine withdrew to Halki after his dismissal. He died there on February 27, 1914 from diabetes.